DeSmith, defense continue to carry Wildcats

BOSTON — The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team wouldn’t have minded winning Sunday’s game at Boston University the same way it had won the previous three, by shutout.

But as long as the final result is a win, you won’t hear anyone complaining.

Goalie Casey DeSmith stopped 45 shots in a 3-1 win on Sunday, in the process helping UNH set a program-record streak of 204 minutes, 40 seconds without a goal allowed.

“Nobody really cares about how many goals we let in as long as we (score) more than we let in,” said Wildcat defenseman and captain Connor Hardowa after Sunday’s game. “It’s great for Casey. He’s been playing unreal, so it’s nice to have that confidence in the back of the net.”

UNH (8-1-1 overall) takes a four-game winning streak into a two-game western swing this weekend with games at No. 14 Colorado College (Friday) and No. 2 Denver (Saturday).

Including Friday night’s 3-0 win at UMass-Lowell, UNH has now won four straight and largely has its defense to thank. In addition to DeSmith’s stellar play, the Wildcats’ penalty kill was kept busy against BU as UNH was sent to the box seven times, and twice was down two men. The Terriers had 11 shots with at least a man advantage, but scored zero.

“When you’re a man short, you have to focus that much more,” DeSmith said. “Seven penalties in the game, you’re more focused and more busy.”

UNH coach Dick Umile was impressed with how his defense played.

“I’m taking nothing away from Casey DeSmith, believe me, he is playing terrific,” Umile said. “But the defensive group in front of him (are) as good as we’ve had. They’ve made a huge difference. (That’s) maturity, led by (Hardowa) and (Brett) Kostolansky, the two defensemen who lead the way for us. And the young kid, (freshman Brett) Pesce. He’s playing like a junior right now.”

UNH is now ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, and received one first-place vote in the former. Boston College is in the top spot.

“Any time you can win two games in Hockey East, it’s a huge weekend,” Umile said. “Especially coming down here. We always have good games with BU.”

Umile was clearly upset with some of the calls that caused the Wildcats to spend so much time in the box against BU. But he took the diplomatic approach when asked about it postgame.

“We just did a good job on penalty kill tonight,” Umile said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. “Thank God. We had a lot of practice.”

UNH staked itself to a 2-0 lead early against BU, as Kevin Goumas and Maxim Gaudreault lit the lamp less than four minutes apart midway through the opening period. BU scored less than five minutes into the middle frame, breaking DeSmith’s personal school-record scoreless streak at 2:03:32.

The Wildcat defense was kept on its toes the remainder of the afternoon, as the Terriers outshot UNH 17-4 in the second period and 17-11 in the final frame.

“You can never count those guys out,” Hardowa said about BU. “They’re always going to bring everything no matter what the score is. We’ve seen it before. (It) was good for us that we were could hold on to the win and get those two points.”

UNH is 6-1-1 in Hockey East and trails only BC, which sports an 8-1 league mark. The two clubs have yet to play this season and will meet for the first time for a home-and-home series Jan. 11 and 12.

For now, the Wildcats are focused on their Thanksgiving break out west before they return home to face UMass-Lowell on Nov. 30.

“We’re feeling definitely confident, but we can’t let that get to us,” Goumas said. “We just have to continue playing our hockey. We have a long road stretch coming up, going out to Denver and Lowell the following week. (We) can’t let the standings get to us. Just have to keep doing our thing.”